Underwater steering and diving vane for swimmers

ABSTRACT

An underwater steering and diving vane towable by a boat and controllable by a swimmer vertically, horizontally and obliquely having a substantially central towline attachment and at least one handle lying rearwardly of the towline attachment which in conjunction with the water resistance drag of the swimmer, the universal pivot point of the attachment, and the location of the handle substantially equalizes forces imposed on the vane leaving the vane substantially force-equalized under tow with a swimmer so that the swimmer may steer the vane as desired with minimal steering effort.

United States Patent William James Gilster 249 Albany, Ferndale, Mich. 48220 Oct. 3, 1969 Dec. 7, 1971 inventor Appl. No. Filed Patented UNDERWATER STEERING AND DIVING VANE FOR SWIMMERS 5 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl.....' 114/16 Int. Cl... B63g 8/00, 1363b 21/00 Field of Search 114/16, 16 A; l 15/6.1

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,948,251 8/1960 Reploglc 1 14/16 A 3,039,415 6/1962 Foster 1 14/16 A Primary Examiner-Trygve M. Blix Attorney-William T. Sevald ABSTRACT: An underwater steering and diving vane towable by a boat and controllable by a swimmer vertically, horizontally and obliquely having a substantially central towline attachment and at least one handle lying rearwardly of the towline attachment which in conjunction with the water.resistance drag of the swimmer, the universal pivot point of the attachment, and the location of the handle substantially equalizes forces imposed on the vane leaving the vane substantially force-equalized under tow with a swimmer so that the swimmer may steer the vane as desired with minimal steering effort. 7

PATENTEnnEc 71971 3.625172 INVENTOR Elli-i2 w. JAMES GILSTER ATTORNEYS UNDERWATER STEERING AND DIVING VANE FOR SWIMMERS This inventidn relates to an underwater steering and diving vane towable by a boat and controllable by the swimmer vertically, horizontally, and obliquely.

Various sleds, planes and vehicles have been employed heretofore to tow a swimmer underwater, however the several devices of the prior art have not proven entirely satisfactory inasmuch as they are complicated in design and construction, expensive to manufacture, and difficult, cumbersome, and impractical to use.

With the foregoing in view, the primary object of the invention is to provide a towable steering and diving vane which is simple in design and construction, inexpensive to manufacture, and compact, easy, and practical to use.

Another object of the invention is to provide a vane with a tow point substantially centrally located relative to water resistance to which the towline is connected and tows so that the vane is substantially equally universally pivoted on the towline from front to rear and from side to side so that towing forces are substantially universally neutralized and/or force-compensated from front to rear and from side to side.

An object of the invention is to provide an underwater steering and towing vane which in conjunction with the drag of a towed swimmer assumes and maintains a substantially universally equalized force or resistance condition with the vane substantially not biased in any direction with the swimmer being towed so that the swimmer may easily manipulate the vane without having to overcome biasing force in one direction and without having to compensate for biasing force in the other direction.

An object of the invention is to provide a central towline attachment to the vane leading from its top surface and angling upwardly to eliminate towline interference in manipulating the vane when submerged.

Another object of the invention is to provide a planar vane equipped with at least one handle extending above and lying adjacent the rear of the vane which acts as a compensating lever on the vane relative to the leverage exerted on the vane by the towline in conjunction with the water resistance drag of the swimmer.

An object of the invention is to provide an optional alternate central towline attachment to the vane leading from its bottom surface to provide towline interference mechanically urging the vane into a rising angle when submerged to provide an important safety factor, such as with inexperienced underwater swimmers to substantially eliminate diving without the swimmer knowing it.

Another object of the invention is to provide handles at the rear and above the plane of the vane, so that when released under water by a swimmer, the resistance incurred by the handles automatically inclines the vane at a rising angle so that it quickly surfaces under tow to substantially immediately advise the towboat that the swimmer has released the vane under water and this provides an important safety factor.

Another object of the invention is to provide a towline attachment position and handle position that locates the vane when free of a swimmers drag in a rising angle so that it will skim the water surface under tow.

Another object of the invention is to provide a vane having a handle in alignment with the towline for one-hand towing and steering so that the swimmer may have his other hand free for using equipment such as a camera, spear gun, etc.

An object of the invention is to provide a vane with a substantially central tow point so that it can be steered with a single handle.

An object of the invention is to provide a vane of any shape such as approximately square, rectangular, circular and/or contoured wherein the central tow point allows the user to be towed and to steer with a single hand regardless of the shape of the vane.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent by reference to the following description of a diving and steering vane embodying theinvention taken in connection with the accompanying drawing; in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the device of the invention and showing a swimmer being towed behind a boat.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the device of the invention shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the device of the invention shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 showinga straight ahead position in solid lines and diving and rising positions on either side thereof in broken lines.

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 showing the optional alternate towrope attachment at the bottom of the device.

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of a circular modification of the device of the invention; and

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the device shown in FIG. 5, taken on the line 66 of FIG. 5.

Referring now to the drawing wherein like numerals refer to like and corresponding parts throughout the several views, the steering and diving vane 10 disclosed therein to illustrate the invention comprises a planar body 11 which may be rectangular and/or square, and which may be contoured as desired as shown in FIG. 1 and a circular body 12 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 which is also planar. A square body is not shown but is considered as incorporated in the other bodies.

A centrally located towline attachment means is on each body 11 and 12 and may be an aperture 13 through the body 11 and 12, as shown, or any other attaching means such as a cleat, clevis, ring, snap, swivel, etc. A towline I4 is secured to the attachment means 13. A boat 15 drags the body 11 or 12 via the towline 14.

At least one handgrip is provided on the body 11 and 12 such as the handle 16 formed by the relief 17 or the handles 18, I9, and 20. The horizontal handle 16 and the vertical handles 18-20 are arranged for one-hand towing and steering and for two-hand towing and steering. The swimmer grasps the handle 16 or handles 18-20 and is towed behind the vane II). The swimmer uses the handle 16 and/or handles 18-20 to turn the vane 10 at angles to the vertical, to the horizontal, and at oblique angles to both the vertical and horizontal as desired to effect diving and rising and to effect right and left turns singly and in combination.

It is important to note that the pivot point for all turns, including up, down, right, left, and combinations thereof. is the centrally located towline attachment meansl3 which provides a substantially force equalized universal-joint pivot-point in the vane 10. In other words, the vane 10 is substantially equally balanced at the attachment means 13 and towline 14 so that the vane 10 is substantially equally balanced on the end of the towline 14 relative to towing forces exerted by the towline 14 and resistance forces encountered in the water as the vane 10 and a swimmer are towed therethrough. Due to the central tow-force and water-resistance point on the vane, the vane 10 is balanced as far as the swimmer under tow is concerned and this enables the swimmer to turn the vane universally with minimal steering effort.

While the handle 16 is suitable, the handles 18-20 are preferred. The handles 18-20 rise above the plane of the vane 10 and preferably are positioned adjacent the trailing edge of the vane 10.

The principal effort exerted by the swimmer is to hang on the vane 10 under tow against water resistance and thus a balanced vane is a vital necessity if the swimmer is to be comfortably and facilely capable of also making the additional exertion or effort to steer. Also the drag force of the swimmers body must not be allowed to bias the vane 10 directionally but rather must be neutralized directionally. The central towline attachment position is substantially unbiased by the weight of the swimmers body in water as the swimmers body is substantially weightless in water. Thus it is the swimmers body resistance force factor which is imposed on the vane 10. By imposing this resistance force factor on the vane rearwardly of the towline attachment and above the plane of the vane by the handles 18-20, the vane 10 normally is biased into a horizontal plane behind the central towline attachment 13 by the leverage afforded by the handles.

Due to the fact that the towboat 15 is in a horizontal plane above the plane of the vane when the vane 10 is under water, the towline 14 angles downwardly from the towboat 15 to the vane 10 placing a foreward-upward force vector on the vane 10.

The leverage provided by the handles 18-20 automatically affords the swimmer the needed mechanical advantage to incline the vane 10 against the forces encountered. Also when the vane is free of a swimmer, the handles l820 lying at the rear of the vane 10 and lying above the vane 10 cause the vane 10 normally to assume a rising angular position due to waterresistance influence on the handles 18-20.

The vane of the invention is thus highly useful to swimmers and Scuba divers and provides advantages not previously available. The appended claims define the scope of the inven tion.

lclaim:

l. A towable underwater diving and steering vane having a center universal pivot point for turning the vane to steer horizontally and vertically singly and in combination, comprismg,

a substantially planar body,

towline attachment means on said body constituting a center universal pivot point located substantially centrally of said body, measured from front to rear and from side to side, and

at least one handle on said body located rearwardly of said towline attachment for a swimmer to grasp to be towed and for the swimmer to turn the vane in steering;

a towline in towing at said center universal pivot point exerting substantially evenly distributed force on said vane due to said front to rear and side to side centrally located towline attachment means center pivot point and said rearwardly located handle in conjunction with swimmer drag enabling the swimmer to turn the vane to steer by the exertion of only minimal directional force.

2. In a device as set forth in claim 1, said handle lying horizontally providing a bar for directing the vane.

3. In a device as set forth in claim 1, said handle lying vertically and upwardly of said body at the rear of said body.

4. In a device as set forth in claim 1, two said handles; said handles being spaced apart on either side of the axis of the towline to provide equalized resistance under swimmer drag thus providing equalized turning facility.

5. In a device as set forth in claim 1, three said handles; one said handle being centrally positioned on the axis of the towline and the other two said handles being equally spaced sidewise of said one handle; and one centrally positioned handle providing means for one-hand dragging and steering; said other two said handles providing means for equalized twohand dragging and steering; said one centrally positioned handle providing means for a swimmer in changing from one to the other of one-hand and two-hand positions. 

1. A towable underwater diving and steering vane having a center universal pivot point for turning the vane to steer horizontally and vertically singly and in combination, comprising, a substantially planar body, towline attachment means on said body constituting a center universal pivot point located substantially centrally of said body, measured from front to rear and from side to side, and at least one handle on said body located rearwardly of said towline attachment for a swimmer to grasp to be towed and for the swimmer to turn the vane in steering; a towline in towing at said center universal pivot point exerting substantially evenly distributed force on said vane due to said front to rear and side to side centrally located towline attachment means center pivot point and said rearwardly located handle in conjunction with swimmer drag enabling the swimmer to turn the vane to steer by the exertion of only minimal directional force.
 2. In a device as set forth in claim 1, said handle lying horizontally providing a bar for directing the vane.
 3. In a device as set forth in claim 1, said handle lying vertically and upwardly of said body at the rear of said body.
 4. In a device as set forth in claim 1, two said handles; said handles being spaced apart on either side of the axis of the towline to provide equalized resistance under swimmer drag thus providing equalized turning facility.
 5. In a device as set forth in claim 1, three said handles; one said handle being centrally positioned on the axis of the towline and the other two said handles being equally spaced sidewise of said one handle; and one centrally positioned handle providing means for one-hand dragging and steering; said other two said handles providing means for equalized two-hand dragging and steering; said one centrally positioned handle providing means for a swimmer in changing from one to the other of one-hand anD two-hand positions. 